Labrador Park

moved!

2007-08-17T22:22:00.000+08:00

Hello:D We have moved to http://labradorpark.wordpress.com! Please visit our new site from now on for more updates! Thank you(:

profiling on 19 Aug!

2007-08-16T14:28:00.000+08:00

Oh right, and i nearly forgot to mention, we will be going down to lab park this sunday to do a profile of the beach! This way, we will be able to see if the various species of seagrass found at lab park only grow at certain height above chart datum. However, as the tide on sunday will be quite high (0.8m), we will have to go down another day to finish the profiling. We will also be going down to do the soil test kits and water turbidity test another day, when we finally get the kit(:

p.s. the lab helper in our school bought a water-resistant camera for us! :D so we will be able to take more pretty pictures! which we will be uploaded soon!

moving!

2007-08-16T14:24:00.000+08:00

due to feedback from Mr Lim, we have decided to move from blogger to wordpress! we are currently in the process of migrating and setting up our new blog, so do look out for our next post which will feature the url of our new blog! (:

The amazing talk at Botanic Gardens!

2007-07-09T23:23:00.000+08:00

After that surprise post by our amazing RS teacher, here's what happened during the talk!

Dr Sasi Nayar, who works at the South Australia Research and Development Institure (SARDI), had been working on a project, to find out why the seagrasses, namely Posidonia and Amphibolis, off the shore of Adelaide have been disappearing.
So after an intensive 4 year study, which involved close shaves with sharks, he has come to the conclusion that eutrophication is the main cause for the loss of about 5000 Ha of seagrass.
How did he come to this conclusion?
Firstly, it was observed that loss of seagrass started from shallower areas, which is different from other places, where the loss of seagrass originated form deeper waters. Thus potential stressors were identified, and they are: Toxicants, Salinity, Turbidity, Eutrophication.
Then, over the course of the study, he and his team examined each stressor and slowly eliminated all the stressors except for eutrophication.
Thus, he has found the answers as to why the seagrasses off the shore of Adelaide have been disappearing - due to eutrophication!

(: nice work Dr Nayar! Thank goodness he was lucky enough not to be eaten by one of the many sharks off the coast of Adelaide, or he would never have been able to share with us his interesting findings :D

for more information on eutrophication, look out for another link on causes for loss of seagrass coming soon!(:

"What Killed The Seagrasses Off The Adelaide Coast In Southern Australia?"

2007-07-09T15:19:00.000+08:00

Dr Sasi Nayar, recipient of the Tan Teck Guan Gold Medal, will talk about his current research on seagrasses at the Botanic Gardens.

The 4th Award of Nature Society ( Singapore) was awarded to the best Masters and Doctoral Thesis from National Tertiary Institutions of Singapore for the period 2003-2006 on a subject related to Nature Conservation or Environmental Protection/Improvement. The award, The Tan Teck Guan Gold Medal, recognizes the best thesis of the graduates on Nature and Environment in Singapore with the winner's name inscribed on a Nature Society (Singapore) 20-gram 24 carat gold medal.

Abstract:

Since the 1940s, over 5000ha of near-shore meadow-forming seagrasses, Amphibolis and Posidonia, have been lost from Adelaide's metropolitan coastline in Southern Australia. The loss of these seagrasses is a major concern due to their importance to near-shore productivity, seabed stability and biodiversity. Engineering works and urbanisation during the 20th century

Substantially increased water flow to the coast from rivers, stormwater drains, and wastewater treatment plant discharges, sullying the metropolitan coast. Elevated levels of nutrients, toxicants and turbidity have been detected and reported regularly over the last 30 years. Each of these potential stressors has been implicated in the historical loss of seagrasses. This talk will specifically address the effect of nutrients on seagrass assessed from in-situ chamber incubations, field experiments and mesocosm (simulation of real-life conditions) trials. The presentation and talk will take place from 7pm to 9pm in the Gardens Briefing Room (next to the Botanic Gardens Shop) at the Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre (at the junction of Cluny and Nassim Roads).

Further plans for Labrador Research

2007-07-05T14:30:00.000+08:00

On our RS Meeting in school, we discussed about what we had done, and what we haven't done.

So basically, after some organising, we're working along 3 tracks, all of which are thalassia.

Measuring Lateral growth of Thalassia (GPS Recording, tracking outline)
→ Get GPS Recordings, upload onto map of Labrador Park

2. Measuring distribution (% Cover, using transects)

(After measuring: work)
→ Average % cover each quadrat per monitoring session/ quadrat per plot
→ Look for trends: e.g. Decrease in % cover per monitoring session
→ Canopy Height: Calculate using mode and mean (per quadrat per monitoring session)

(To be measured [Fieldwork])
→ Substrate/ Sediment type
→ Epiphytes Cover
→ Algae Cover
→ Soil Turbidity/ Gradient of Beach
→ Salinity

(To be Researched)
→Meteorological conditions:
→Precipitation [which affects salinity & exposure]
→ Climatic/ Seasonal conditions (Hot & Wet/ Hot & dry)

3. Growth of Thalassia Leaf
→ Calculate Percentage Error
→Organise data (choose appropriate method)
→ Analyse and look for trends

yup basically that's all for our current to-do list! :D
see ya!

Lab Session: Follow up on Measuring Thalassia Growth

2007-06-25T14:35:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Ms Siti and her friends who helped us 'collect' seagrass with the holes poked through them, we were able to follow up on our tests to measure seagrass growth when we returned from our various overseas trips. :D So today, we gathered in the Biology lab to study the growth of the seagrass.

Unfortunately, we realised that some of the sheaths had dropped off and there were singular leaf blades (most likely separated in the process of transportation). We were rather at a loss as to how to measure, since if there were no sheaths, we couldn't find the hole in the sheath to measure from to track the growth. Thank goodness Ms Siti was there and suggested an alternative - we would measure 2 cm from the bottom of the seagrass for uniformity. And thus we began.

We measured the distance between the holes (for most, the hole in the sheath was imagined to be present 2cm above the bottom of the seagrass) as the growth, and the length and width of each leaf blade in each thalassia plant and dutifully recorded everything down.

We were done after a few hours :) and actually, it was mostly uneventful, aside from one very sleepy person who kept reading off the wrong dimensions on the ruler, one very high person who commented oddly that measurement was more effective with wet sticky seagrass ("Because the seagrass will Stick to the Ruler!!!") and two other rather quiet people including Ms Siti. (:

Stay tuned for pictures and further posts!!

Monitoring session today!

2007-06-17T20:20:00.000+08:00

So after yesterday's episode (all the lateness...) we all managed to reach Labrador Park on time. Or as much on time as possible, given the heavy, heavy downpour around central Singapore. We nearly hoped that today's session would be cancelled, we weren't trying to slack, but the rain was really very heavy. But Mr Lim dashed all our hopes by saying that if we didn't do it today, it would be hard for us to find another day with as low a tide as today's.
However, at 10 minutes past 7, the gate was still not open, so we had to climb over the railing and "crab walk" along the ledge to get to the ramp. We also packed our ponchos in preparation for an expedition tomorrow and thus, had to carry umbrellas. Which we couldn't while climbing over the rail and thus, got thoroughly wet.
After we managed to get into the beach safely, we placed our bags under the bridge and prepared to get even more wet! As I was the one who was going to measure the seagrass, I had the honour of wearing a poncho of Ms Siti's, while the rest had to carry around their umbrellas. However, i ended up even more wet than the rest...
As we had left our all-important file and clipboard locked up in school, Siling had to print out new copies of the data sheet. These data sheets were not waterproof, unlike the ones which were given to us. Thus, we were slightly worried that our data would get smudged. However, we tried to work as quickly as possible.
The tide was already rising when we started at 7.22 am, so we quickly improvised. Initially, Sihui and I would measure and do the quadrat-reading, with Siling being the sole recorder. However, Ms Siti realised it was too slow, and thus, we split up into two teams - with Ms Siti measuring and Sihui recording, and I measuring and Siling recording.
Siling and I quickly recorded, and saw some interesting things such as Soft Corals which have been uprooted and another species of Soft Corals. However, due to the rain, we didn't manage to catch sight of any crabs. We managed to cover 33 quadrats between us and Ms Siti and Sihui, while Mr Lim took the GPS coordinate readings of around the Thalassia hemprichii patch and the Halophila ovalis patch. We managed to do everything by 8.04 am. By that time, the rain was already lessening. We quickly washed up and while Ms Siti and Mr Lim went off, the three of us waited for Sihui and Siling's parents to pick us up and go for breakfast(:

We checked on our little patch of Thalassia-with-holes-in-the-sheath and it's still safe and sound! Hopefully it would remain this way till Ms Siti goes to collect the samples :D

Measuring Thalassia Growth

2007-06-16T14:22:00.000+08:00

Today, we went down to Labrador to begin the test to measure Thalassia growth. The plan was for each of us to be armed with a .22 hypodermic needle, to be used to poke a small but still visible hole in the sheaths of the seagrass in a designated patch. After a few days, we'd return to the same small patch and gather(aka dig out and collect) some of the seagrass from that patch. By measuring the distance between the hole in the sheath and the hole in the seagrass leaves, we would be able to track the average growth of the seagrass.

And so we began by choosing a patch of seagrass. The tide that day was very low and we quickly chose a small patch that was neither too overgrown nor too bare- just average. On the patch, we measured a square about the size of a quadrat and pegged tent pegs into the four corners. After tying raffia string to the tent pegs to mark out the square more clearly, we used a mallet to pound and embed the tent pegs into the ground.

Finally, we began the tedious job of poking the holes into the thalassia seagrass. It wasn't as easy as expected- we had to dig into the sand to find the sheaths to poke into with the needles, and it was numbing to keep squatting. Thankfully, with our concerted efforts, we were satisfied and decided that we had poked holes in enough seagrass. Our target was 50 leaf sheaths in total so that even if some of the seagrass had died or been eaten or even mysteriously disappeared, we'd still have enough to do our calculations with.

Settled, we happily went home! Thank you Ms Siti for always coming to help out! And sorry if the explanations aren't very clear, photos will be up soon for better understanding!

Because our entire team (including Mr Lim) would be leaving for an expedition in Hong Kong from the 18th to the 22nd, Ms Siti helped us collect the seagrass samples that we needed before they died. Thank you Ms Siti again! :D

This plan was suggested by Dr Len McKenzie when he was in Singapore for the Seagrass Workshop. The sheath is where each leaf blade in the plant grows from, so when we poked a hole in the sheath, the hole would go through all the leaves of the thalassia, and this is what made our plan feasible.

up next...

2007-06-14T18:43:00.000+08:00

it's been such a long time since we did any seagrass monitoring - nearly 2 months! hopefully we haven't forgotten all we've learnt(: our next monitoring session's coming up!
on the 16th of June, we will be conducting our experiment to find out how long a Thalassia leaf will grow to in a certain amount of time. on the 17th of June, we will also be going down to conduct our usual monitoring:D
so this is just a brief update on what we will be doing this weekend, look out for our next post on the monitoring session!

2007-05-24T14:57:00.000+08:00

On the 22nd April, our group met up once again for a monitoring session at Labrador Park. Yup, at 7am, we were at the Park waiting for the tide to recede and for our mentor, Mr Lim and our other group member, Jocelyne (whom we later found out was not coming) to turn up. When we finally started at around 7.30, the tide was extremely low, and was even receding, which was good for our monitoring, as we could actually see some of the seagrass that are generally submerged in the water clearly. Sometimes, certain areas of the seagrass patch are completely submerged by the slightly murky water, so we cannot observe things like the percent coverage of the seagrass in the quadrat. So naturally, our spirits were rather high, and efficiency level went up!

We started out by walking around the seagrass plot, and Mr Lim took the GPS readings so we would be able to map out the plot’s shape and area, so that we can observe how much the area occupied by the seagrass has increased or decreased the next time we go for a monitoring session. Next, we did the monitoring of one of the smaller plots and did 6 quadrats there. We then moved on to the bigger plot, of which we managed to complete 33 quadrats, in around 1 and a half hour, due to the nice weather, high spirits and efficiency level. It was such a pity that Jocelyne could not make it, but Si Hui and I had a lot of fun throwing quadrats randomly in the seagrass patch and examining it by filling up the datasheet, which included details like the type of sediment, photograph number, percentage of seagrass coverage, percentage of seagrass species composition, canopy height, and the percentage covered by epiphytes and algae. As I had to take the canopy height of the thalassia (by measuring the height of 3 random seagrasses, and finding the average of the three) besides jotting down all the information that Si Hui called out, and we could not gather both pieces of information from the same quadrat at the same time, because the clipboard I was using to measure the canopy height obstructed her view of the quadrat. we decided that after getting the canopy height of the first quadrat, I would immediately move on to the next quadrat to measure the canopy height there, while Si Hui would concentrate on observing the percentages, etc and move on to the quadrat that I would have by then finished measuring. I would then record what she said on the datasheets. In this way, we could do both simultaneously, and as we had only two quadrats to work with, we were motivated to work faster.

We noted that next time, it would be good to be better prepared, for example, bring extras of everything, such as foolscap paper, and rulers. We managed to improvise, though, despite not having rulers: we used the sides of the clipboard to measure the canopy height.

Along the way, we saw many interesting creatures, as usual, especially a lot of algae e.g. the bubble algae (not the scientific name, a layman term). This particular trip to Labrador park was a very enjoyable experience for all of us, because we managed to get a lot of information, and we ended with high spirits, despite having to rush off for another activity soon after.

another blog!

2007-04-21T22:36:00.000+08:00

We have just found another blog about Labrador Park! http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/labrador/blog/
This blog is done by a group of local naturalists and they have really cool pictures! It focuses more on the natural habitat and less on seagrasses though. Nevertheless, it is very interesting, go take a look at it!

monitoring session on 7th April (:

2007-04-11T21:15:00.000+08:00

Early in the morning at 7am, we gathered at the pavilion next to the beach. We were going to conduct our first monitoring session!! Ms Yang and Ms Lim,both of whom work at National Parks (NParks) and are also part of teamseagrass, came down to help us.

However, the gate to the beach was only opened at 730am, so we started late and had to make sure we were quick so we could get everything done. When we finally got started, we realised that the tide was coming in, instead of being low tide as it was supposed to be. Teamseagrass, who went to sentosa the next day to monitor the seagrasses there, also experienced the extraordinary higher tide than usual, and are most concerned. Hopefully the effects of global warming will not be felt so soon...

We were going to try out a new monitoring method, where we would walk on the edges of the Thalassia hemprichii patch (as it is the biggest) and track the GPS coordinates every few steps. The previous method of 100 by 25 was deemed ineffective after a chat with the leader of seagrasswatch, Len Mckenzie. It was not a good method for monitoring as the patches of seagrass found here is mostly quite small and by using that method, we would have a skewed idea of the distribution of seagrass here.

However, as much as we wanted to start our actual monitoring, the tide was too high and the water was too murky for us to see the edges of the thalassia patch which was further from the beach. The smaller patch of thalassia which was nearer to the beach(yep, we found 2 thalassia patches that day(: instead of just one!) thankfully, was still visible and we quickly tracked the location of the patch and measured the percent coverage before all was lost to the tide.

While we were measuring the percent coverage, Ms Yang and Ms Lim found a little hermit crab! We found out that when going for monitoring sessions, it is always good to bring a container, a pair of chopstick and a fork along so we can poke around with the chopstick, dig the soil with the fork and place organisms found (like the hermit crab) in the container to take a closer look! After we looked at the hermit crab upclose, we let the little creature back into its natural environment and carried on with our work(: We should never bully the little creatures which live here and bring them home with us!

After we finished our monitoring of that little patch, we decided that we should bring home some specimens of Thalassia hemprichii, Halophila ovalis and common macroalgae to put under the microscope and learn more about the differences between algae and seagrass! This was for learning purposes, therefore it is justified to take one specimen of each(:

All in all, it was a fairly good monitoring session despite the tide, as we learnt how to do a real monitoring session and will be able to do our next one properly in June.

Second Recce at Labrador Park

2007-04-05T15:01:00.001+08:00

On the 17^th March 2007, our group met up with people from teamseagrass for our second recce at Labrador Park. This time, we were going to test and find out which method to check for seagrass population density in specific areas would be the most effective.

Usually for monitoring, a horizontal transect line is laid out for 50m, and a vertical one which starts at the start point of the horizontal transect line is laid out for another 50m. GPS readings are taken at the start and end points of the transect lines, so we can find the same spot again on another day. A quadrat (a square-shaped border made of pipes, which have holes drilled into them and string passing through, holes, and basically looks something like a square grid) is then laid out at every 5m on the vertical scale. Based on a data sheet for the seagrass percent cover standards, we can estimate the percentage (amount) of seagrass there is in each quadrat.

The methods that we were considering were the random band method, 100m by 25m, or 50m by 50m. The random band method involves laying out transect lines as well, but instead of laying down quadrats at every 5m, the quadrats are thrown randomly around areas where there are seagrass patches. We decided not to use it, for it might leave us with skewed data. Instead, we debated over whether the 100m by 25m, or the 50m by 50 would be more feasible, but our questions were resolved when we laid out the transect lines. The seagrass patch mostly ended around the 50m mark, so it would not be very feasible to lay out the transects until the 100m mark.

Using the surroundings to help us benchmark the area, e.g. a pillar for the 25m mark, we made it easier to identify the area if there was a need to. At every 5m, we also took down notes of what was in the surrounding area, for example, rocks, halophila ovalis, colonial anemone, etc. This would help us to identify what were the factors that affected the presence of seagrass in the area.

Along the way, we had a lot of fun studying the many marine creatures that we saw and learning what they were called. For example, we saw the colourful Velcro crab, which covered itself with different types of algae as a form of camouflage, making it more difficult to spot. We also spotted other things like a nudibranch (a sea slug- the spotty green thing in the picture),

a red egg crab, hairy crab, and more! We eagerly look forward to our next session at Labrador Park! (:

click here for the TeamSeagrass post on the recce with nice photos!

First trip to Labrador Park

2007-02-04T15:54:00.000+08:00

After school on 2 March, we cabbed down to Labrador Park for our first visit there. Unfortunately, when we reached there, there was a heavy thunderstorm so the three of us and Mr Lim had to hide away in the pavilions for some time. ): Finally, the rain lessened enough for us to proceed, so we got out our ponchos and put it on above our heavy schoolbags while Mr Lim got out his umbrella. Then we put on our nice new bootees and got ready for our walk along the beach.

And so we walked on the wet, grainy sand on the beach. Mr Lim introduced us to the seagrasses and algae along the coast and we said our hellos to the patch of tiny Halophila ovalis, otherwise known as “spoon seagrass”. We also saw the red, brown and green algae on the rocky shores of the beach. While we trudged on, Mr Lim constantly gave us suggestions on the types of questions we could use for our project and the different factors that might affect the growth of seagrass.

As this was our first visit to LabradorPark and merely for familiarization and getting to know the area, we only had a short walk and soon after returned to the pavilion for our discussion on the areas we were covering for our research and the factors that affected the rate of seagrass growth.

What are the factors that affect the rate of seagrass growth?

Type of substrate (rocky/ sandy, size of grain/ rocks)

Turbidity (clarity of water)

Other competitors (for instance, the algae that we saw)

Extent of submersion in water (might affect vertical growth of seagrass)

We ended the discussion after concluding and coming up with a to-do list for the rest of the week. (:

*Because we only walked for a rather short distance due to the tidal conditions, we only saw one species of seagrass, the Halophila ovalis, but according to Mr Lim, there was still at least one more species of seagrass growing at Labrador Beach, namely the “tape seagrass”, Enhalus acoroides.